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Star hotels turn hotspots: 128 cases reported so far
Soon after a star hotel reported more than 100 cases of COVID-19, another luxury hotel in the city turned out to be a virus cluster with more than 20 fresh cases being reported recently. As many as 128 employees and guests from several hotels across the city tested positive for the infection so far.
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Chennai
The hotel in MRC Nagar reported positive cases among employees and guests after a screening of employees was carried out following an order from the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). Civic authorities have ordered testing of all the employees at all hotels and submit samples at the nearest Public Health Centre (PHC) or fever camps. The hotel has been asked to cancel all the events and gatherings scheduled at the venue, which has been a common venue for meetings and private events. So far, close to 1,700 staff members, guests of star hotels in Chennai have been tested for COVID-19 and around 117 have turned out to be positive. Meanwhile, about 3,000 employees of other hotels and guests in Chennai were also tested and 11 of them have contracted the virus.
GCC and the State Health Department have conducted testing of employees at about 25 star hotels so far. As per a senior official from the department, other star hotels have also been asked to conduct testing of their employees. He also added that most of them have very minimal cases and are not hotspots. Officials stated that a spike in private events at hotels has led to such clusters and testing of employees at such places needs to be intensified.
Hotels told to alert event organisers
Following clusters of cases reported from city’s luxury hotels, the Greater Chennai Corporation has directed the management of such hotels to trace persons, who had conducted events and to test the participants. A Corporation official said that hotels have been asked to trace events conducted in December. “Hotels should inform the organisers about the present situation and ask them to trace the participants so that they can get tested,” the official added. Meanwhile sources in the civic body said that the Election Commission of India had conducted a meeting at the ITC Grand Chola in December and a State government function was held in Leela Palace during the period.Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said that the civic body is adopting a saturation approach for all hotels and resorts.
Adherence to SoP can prevent new clusters: Health Secy
Health secretary J Radhakrishnan has emphasised the need for strict compliance to prevent the spread of COVID-19. He was inspecting the COVID-19 ward at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Monday.
In the wake of the recent identification of COVID clusters at up-market hotels in the city, the secretary said the establishments should adhere to standard operating procedures and safety protocols to prevent the formation of clusters. The violations could lead to a spike even though COVID -19 showed a declining trend.
Government hospital authorities in the city said the workload on staff had increased due to negligence on part of the public.
The Health Secretary inspected the 120-bed special ward for UK returnees and their contacts at the hospital. He appreciated the efforts of the healthcare workers at the hospital in treating COVID patients.
Earlier, he stated that the events and gatherings at private venues in the city should be conducted in compliance with the guidelines issued. Any violation would invite strict action by the authorities.
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